


Paranoia

by Leopardheart104



Category: MCSM, Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft Story Mode
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Fluffy fluffiness occurs, Self Loathing, a bit of depression, i love harper, plz protect this bean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 09:43:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18247292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leopardheart104/pseuds/Leopardheart104
Summary: She had been living in the darkness of solitude for years now, her hope for a better future close to vanishing from her heart. But when a group of outsiders arrive in her world, they just might relight the spark of hope that had gone out so long ago... Basically a rewrite of episode seven from Harper's POV.





	1. Dream

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING ~ If you have not played Minecraft Storymode Episode 7: Access Denied yet, GO PLAY IT. THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE EPISODE IN THIS FANFIC SINCE IT IS BASICALLY A REWRITE OF THE EPISODE.
> 
> Enjoy~

Harper ran.

Her legs were moving in a continuous cycle of reaching out to get as much footing as she could while pulling back to let the other do the same, all whilst being chased by red-eyed controlled mobs and people.

So she was kind of surprised that she hadn't fallen over dead tired by now.

But then again she had been doing this for years upon years.

So you could say she'd had some practice.

But then, suddenly she wasn't running anymore. She now found herself struggling against two mind controlled zombies that were trying to haul her under a familiar contraption that sent shivers down her spine.

A giant, dark green screen with a large face and even brighter green facial features smiled down upon her, verbally expressing how happy he was to finally have her 'merge' with him.

Harper yelled something, but she couldn't hear it. It was like her own voice had been taken from her lungs.

Then she noticed something else. The green, fleshy claws that had been pulling on one of her arm had loosened their grip.

Confused, Harper looked to her left and her gaze met with one of her captors.

But it's eyes weren't red.

They were blue.

* * *

Harper shot upright, clutching her heart, breathing heavily.

Fear was tingling through her skin until she felt the once soft mattress underneath her and the cold air of her underground lab. She let out a heavy and shaky breath.

Just a dream. No matter how completely weird or out of place.

She raised her gloved hand to her face and wiped away the beads of sweat dripping from her forehead, despite the lack of heat down in her underground lab of what she had reluctantly guessed and mostly assumed would forever be her palace of solitude.

Harper got up from her bed, too fazed to be bothered to make it neat again, and walked over to her quiet desk area filled with books on redstone mechanics, different worlds and legends that she had practically memorized by now.

She plopped herself down onto one of the wooden chairs she had set up, grabbed a random book from the shelf and started to flip through the pages, not even paying attention to what was on them. Her mind was on her dream rather than the words on the paper.

Harper had dreamed of PAMA before. Being captured by him, getting chipped, and the rarest, sweetest dream of somehow being able to stop him…

But she had never dreamed of blue eyed zombies. Harper turned herself so that she could look at the space where she had finished and hidden away her newly made transmigrational headset, which had almost the exact same colored lens as the eyes of the zombie in her dream.

Huh.

Maybe it had something to do with that.

But she immediately pushed the idea out of her head. It was just a dream, she scolded herself for being so hopelessly stupid, thinking that there was even a single chance that real people would come here.

She wasn't even sure if anyone even knew about the Portal Network anymore…

Shaking her head of distant memories, she left the book she had opened on her desk and went over to a chest filled with resources and more importantly, redstone chips. Harper had began collecting them after the sudden realization that if PAMA had no chips, he couldn't make anyone 'useful'. It wouldn't completely stop PAMA all together, but it was something, and that was like that deepest patch of diamonds to Harper. She lifted the lid and found inside some TNT, redstone, a button, and a few buckets for moving water.

Muttering to herself, she shut the lid.

Maybe I should grab some more chips today...

* * *

Harper pressed her back up against a dry, hard surface, still as a statue, a red-eyed controlled person walking pass.

She couldn't remember his name, as she didn't with most of the people here that were chipped now, only walking and breathing and moving to serve PAMA and no one else.

The thought of herself being that way made her shutter, along with the thought of PAMA having access to the other worlds. Which is why she had to be careful when she came outside.

No matter how much her heart ached coming back to Crown Mesa, she knew that she had to. she needed to collect more redstone chips so that PAMA had less of an army in it's system. Harper had only realized this about a week ago, so it was slow progress at the moment. But it was something, and to Harper, that meant all the diamonds in the world.

When the chipped citizen made its way past the clay structure Harper was hiding behind, she swiftly and silently crept across the road to a house on the other side. She knew it had a small chest filled with redstone chips.

Harper had snuck into it once, but she'd been caught by a few chipped creepers. She had taught herself to be more stealthy after _that_ certain incident.

There was still some specks of redstone dust that she couldn't get out of her hair.

(A/N I have a headcanon in this story that when chipped creepers explode, redstone dust is spread from the redstone chips. Just to clear up any confusion. :) Now back to the story!~)

The chest was there as she had left it. Only now it was locked, a bright red mechanical lock on it. PAMA must have thought that Harper might have come back for them again.

Grumbling to herself, she pulled out a small hairpin and began picking the lock. She was so engrossed in picking the locked chest that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her.

"Umm... Hello?"

Harper whirled around and let out a yelp, backing herself up against the chest. Her eyes found someone standing in front of her, a young boy wearing impressive looking armor holding an enchanted diamond sword in his hand. Shakily, she looked up and met his gaze...

And his eyes weren't red.


	2. Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this chapter~

Harper's mind whirled with confusion and fear. _Why weren't they red?_

"Who-Who are you?" She asked shakily, her will to speak slowly returning "Y-You're not PAMA."

The boy's eyes were alarmed, but also confused. "What do you mean?" He asked, "What's PAMA?"

If this was PAMA, Harper could not believe he could gotten so stupid so fast. Picking herself up, she walked up to the stranger and fixed him with a disbelieving glare.

"You seriously think I'm gonna fall for that?" She held his gaze firmly. She searched his eyes, his posture for a sign, anything that have a hint that he was a part of her... mistake.

But the only thing that showed was pure confusion and sharp alertness.

Harper felt her hard glare soften as she came to a realization, "You're...Serious?" The boy nodded his head hesitantly.

Harper backed away from him and let it sink into her mind, "But... How is that... T-That's not possible..." She wrapped one arm around herself and pressed her other hand against her forehead. She was feeling lightheaded. Was this another dream. ..?

_No_. The mix of emotions in the strangers eyes were too complex to be a fantasy. Her thoughts were cut off by another round of footsteps, more than one pair.

Harper mouth flew open in disbelief as three more people enter the room, "H-How are there more of you?! How many of you are there?!"

"Jesse, what's going on?" Asked one of them, a blonde haired boy with a black jacket over an orange shirt, shoulder pads made of iron, and goggles similar to the ones she was wearing herself. A bow was clutched tightly in his hand, a quiver strapped on his back. He was also about the same age as the first one Harper had met, the one he seemed to be asking the question to.

The second one was a red head with armor the same impressive quality as 'Jesse'. She was grasping an enchanted golden sword tightly in her hand, poised to strike.

The third stranger was a _very_ pale bearded man with shiny, black hair. He was the only member of the group that didn't have a wary look in his eyes when he saw her. It was more intent and curious than theirs. His and Harper's gaze met for a second, before she returned her attention back to Jesse.

"L-Listen..." Harper began cautiously, "Have you...met...any of the people here?"

Jesse shrugged his shoulders, "I talked to a guy outside, but that's it. It's pretty deserted here."

"It's not, believe me." Harper's expression turned into a grimace, but she quickly softened it. She placed a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Listen, if you run into one of them again... please don't hurt them. They're my friends."

Or, at least they _used_ to be.

But this probably wasn't right time or place to explain that right now.

Harper quickly stole a glance outside the window, and tensed. Four chipped citizens were slowly walking towards the house. She backed away from the group, "O-Oh no... I've wasted too much time!"

Jesse followed her gaze to the outside, "What are you so worried about? There's four of them and five of-"

But Harper had already made her way outside through another window. She quickly ran towards behind another house, three ones from the house the strangers were inside of. Harper felt guilty for leaving them to PAMA, but getting herself out of there was more important to the other worlds. She couldn't let PAMA build an exit portal.

This was for the best.

* * *

Harper strained to hear what the group of strangers were saying to PAMA, who were up on the quartz structure that none and people were brought to become chipped.

She had decided to stay out longer than she probably should have. But she was curious to see what PAMA would say to them, since Harper had guessed that they weren't from Crown Mesa. And it turned out her suspicions were right. Jesse (who seemed to be the leader of the group) had outright stated that they weren't from this world. He had also mentioned a portal, which was when Harper silently prayed for him to shut to his mouth, and that they were looking for an exit.

After a few more minutes of interrogating from PAMA, and a few attempts from Jesse to try and change the subject, PAMA chipped two of the strangers, the blonde and the redhead. When Harper thought that any hope for the new comers was lost, Jesse suddenly shouted:

"Hey PAMA! What I'm saying is a lie!"

Harper perked up slightly. That was a paradox.

A confused PAMA began to malfunction, causing Harper to let out a sigh of relief. At least Jesse had some kind of brain inside his head. She was surprised by how quickly he managed to figure out how to make PAMA go off the rails.

Harper steadily climbed up onto the house she was hiding in, and called out to the group. The two remaining un-chipped new comers, Jesse and the pale bearded man, glanced at her in surprise.

"Nice work you guys!" Harper called to them, "But I'd get outta there fast if I were you! PAMA's a quicker learner than you think-"

Her words were cut off by a loud mechanical voice, "Paradox status: On hold."

Harper's head snapped over to the dark green screen as it put on a happy face, despite it's emotionless voice, "Gasp! My creator! Have you finally agreed to merge with me?"

Harper scowled at PAMA angrily, "Don't you start with that again!" She turned back to the strangers on the platform, "Come on!"

Harper leapt off the house, barely feeling any pain from the fall. She glanced back at the group, and noticed Jesse staring after her hesitantly. He probably didn't want to leave his friends the way they were at the moment...

Harper couldn't remember the last time she felt that kind of loyalty towards anyone.

"I'm sorry, but they're beyond our help right now!" She called to him, "Come on, you've gotta run!" She didn't wait for his reply and began to run away from the chipped army, who had spotted her now that she'd come out of her hiding spot.

Harper sprinted in between the many clay houses, creating a trickier trail that might leave PAMA confused for enough time for her to get back to her lab. Clouds of dust trailed behind her as her feet pressed against the sandy ground. She rushed down the stairs that lead towards the exit of the canyon that Crown Mesa was built in. It was only half built when she first arrived. Harper remembered taking part in some of the construction for the town for half the time she was there, while the other half of the time she spent building PAMA...

Harper shook her head rapidly, _Now's not the time to be thinking about that_! The mobs that were being held at the bottom of the canyon had begun to notice her and were following behind her rapidly. She spotted the two strangers a few feet in front of her, surrounded by familiar purple ender pearl particles. Harper came to a brief stop in front of them, making both of them glance up at her.

"Ha!" Harper barked, giving them a small smile, "Maybe you've got a shot after all, new guys! Better stick with me though!"

Without waiting for a reply, Harper continued to dash forward, the two new comers close behind. Harper wasn't really sure if she had any sort of confidence in what she said to them. It was hard to think of anyone or anything that could outwit PAMA, let alone shut him down.

_They probably won't last long,_ She thought bitterly to herself, but it didn't get rid of the small, warm feeling that tingled in her senses.

Maybe this could end after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N~ Welp, I guess things are looking up for Harper! :)


	3. What is this feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

"A _signal_ would have been nice!"

Harper barely heard the irritated hiss from the bearded man. She could hear chipped zombies, skeletons, and spiders quickly shuffling past the small ditch that Harper and the two survivors were hiding inside of. Harper had easily slid into the hollowed sans pit, having no trouble quickly dodging into small caves or cracks in the mesa and desert to hide from PAMA's forces. Jesse was lucky enough to stop at the edge and carefully slip into the ditch.

His pale companion, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He had fallen face first into the pit and was spitting sand out of his mouth.

"That was clever of you two to overload PAMA with that paradox," Harper told them, not responding to the bearded man's irritated comment, "But, it ain't gonna hide us for very long. We need to get out of here."

"You-You," Jesse sputtered, a shocked expression spreading across his features, "You created that-that PAMA thing!"

Harper winced sharply, not being ready for this kind of accusation, since, even though she knew this was her fault, she had always assumed that there would be anyone around ever to make a proper accusation.

"Ok, Ok, I did make PAMA," Harper admitted, rubbing her arm nervously, "But I never intended it to be like this, chipping people along with mobs. Which is why we need to get these control-freaks off our tails and head to my lab."

The pale man sitting next to Jesse huffed, "Some plan," he muttered.

Harper shot him a look, scowling slightly, "Your better watch where you put that sass. I'm trying to help you."

The pale man flushed slightly, to Harper's surprise. Gaze moving to the floor, he cleared his throat nervously, "Y-Yes, Ma'am."

Satisfied with his reply (and a little surprised too), Harper got back onto her feet, "I'll lead the mobs away while you two head to my lab, got it?"

"But I don't see any secret lab anywhere!" Jesse exclaimed in confusion, "Just sand and cacti."

Harper rolled her eyes, "Wouldn't be very _secret_ if it was obvious to see, now would it?" She hoped he wasn't really as daft as he sounded right now. She pointed towards the arched clay natural clay structure that she hidden her main lab entrance. She didn't go through it much anymore. It would cause too much of a commotion, something that would attract PAMA right to her. But this was an emergency, "Just start runnin' that way. And look for the big difference, you'll see it!" She began to climb out of the ditch.

"Wait!"

Harper paused at the voice and turned to find the pale bearded man, having gotten up on his feet, staring at Harper.

"What is your name?" He asked curiously, with a look that almost resembled...admiration on his face.

Harper blinked at the question, surprised that she even remembered her own name at this point, after being alone for so long. She never though that she would have to answer a question like this to anyone ever again. However, she brought herself back to the present and shot them a small smile.

"My name's Harper."

* * *

The sounds of rattling bones, dead moans, and quiet hisses were quickly muffled as she put sand in place of the small gap she had dug into her secret passage. She had marked it with a red dyed block of clay, not occurring to any of the controller mobs of what could have made the unnatural spot there. Harper waited there until the mobs noises were drawing away from her destination. She let out a sigh of relief as the sounds died out all together.

She had done this too many times to count and it still scared the hell out of her.

Not like she was gonna admit that to anyone anyway.

Harper made her way down the dimly lit tunnel, walls dotted with redstone torches and lamps, giving an ominous, dim, red glow to the small space that reminded her painfully of PAMA's core. But it was one of the only things she had left for lighting at this point, since PAMA had stripped the desert of its coal. She couldn't even make charcoal, considering there were no trees around.

She was running out of options.

Harper would run out of food at some point, and when that happened she would have to rebuild the exit portal and try to get some more supplies from a different dimension. Which was the last thing she was willing to do-

"I didn't actually know you cared so much"

Harper froze as she heard voices around the corner. Then relaxed as she recognized Jesse's voice and, a moment later his companion's.

"I still have a few surprises up my sleeve." The pale man paused for a moment before speaking again, "I must say that woman has been a most intruiging person so far."

Harper paused in confusion, wondering who he was reffering to, before the slow realisation sunk into her head. A small grin twitched on her lips.

He was talking about _her_.

"I'm still not entirely sure what to make of her," Harper leaned against the corner doused in shadow as she listened to him ramble on, covering her smirk with her hand, her cheeks tinted pink, "Granted her creation nearly ended up destroying this world, but considering my own history, I'm inclined to giving her the benefit of the doubt!"

"'Intruiging', Ivor?" Harper heard Jesse's teasing voice and two figures came in Harper's view. She could see a light blush appear on 'Ivor's' face as he tried to sputter out an excuse. Harper smothered the giggles rousing in her chest. Harper cleared her throat loudly.

Both turned to face her, only now noticing her in the dark corner. Jesse's face was only slightly surprised, but Ivor's face had turned poppy red.

"Careful with all that sputtering," Harper crossed her arms and grinned, "You'll swallow your beard."

Jesse broke out into a fit of giggles, his friend's face turning the color of redstone.

"W-What did you hear?" Ivor stuttered, "I-It was nothing!"

Harper raised an eyebrow at him, "Uhh huh." She pushed herself off the wall and made her way towads the two, looking at Jesse, "Blonde guy called you Jesse, right?"

"Yeah, and this is Ivor," Jesse gestured to the bearded man beside him, who waved nervously, his face still red. A worried look came across Jesse's face, "Our friends back there are Petra and Lukas. You said earlier that your name was 'Harper'?"

"Yeah," Harper responded, sneaking a glance at Ivor. A shy look was shinning in his eyes that quickly turned into nervousness as his and Harper's eyes met. She shot him a small grin and noticed his face flushing darker.

This was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N ~ Ivor's in looooooove :3
> 
> Hope you know what inspired the title for this chapter ;).
> 
> I'll probably edit this chapter later to be longer since it came out so short :/.
> 
> ~Do you think Ivor and Harper settled in Beacontown after season two, and do you think they kept adventuring?
> 
> Hope you enjoyed~


	4. Explanations, Memories, and Pink Faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

"You folks are the first people from out of the portal network in _forever_ ," Harper explained, descending down the large, underground tunnel. She rubbed the back of her neck, shooting Jesse and Ivor an apologetic look, "So you'll have to excuse me if I seem a little... anxious."

If she wasn't talking right now, Harper probably would have chuckled dryly at herself.

Please.

As if there was ever one moment were she _wasn't_ anxious.

Jesse blinked, "Wait, you know about the hallway?" He asked, surprised.

"'The Hallway'?" Harper repeated, fairly amused, "That's what you've been callin' it?" She let out a small chuckle.

That was almost worse than being called an 'Old Builder'.

Almost.

"Yes, maybe," Ivor confirmed perking up slightly, his eyes lighting up with curiosity, "What do you know about it anyway?"

"A lot I should think," Harper smiled at his sudden giddiness, "I helped build the dang thing."

"But that would make you..." Jesse's eyes widened and he gasped, "an _Old Builder!"_

Harper couldn't suppress a cringe from sinking into her face, "Forgot you people called us that." She said, trying to not think of her first home with Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto, "Never was my favorite name. Made me sound like some sort of living statue."

She wondered how Otto was doing. She hoped he wasn't being beaten to the dust by Hadrian's... 'Games'. She had hoped Media would take back her own opinion for once and try to not fall so easily under his influence, even though she knew it wasn't likely. Media seemed to love the games just as much as he did.

"But, if you're an old builder," Jesse asked, brows furrowed in confusion, "Can't you help us get home?"

Harper bit back a stinging, frustrated retort. Couldn't he see the situation she was in right now? Harper didn't think she was in a fit enough state to help anyone. "I'm afraid that's a little out of my abilities right now, " She sighed, "PAMA's just too powerful."

Harper hesitated before continuing, "And besides, there's actually no exit portal back to the portal network from this world."

Jesse's mouth flew open in dismay, "What? Why!?"

"I destroyed it," Harper confessed, "So that PAMA couldn't get free!" She flinched slightly at Jesse and Ivor's appalled faces, "It was impulsive, but it was the only way I could think off to keep PAMA from getting to other worlds." She explained.

"Can't you just rebuild it?" Jesse asked hopefully.

Harper stared at him, dumbfounded, "You basic or somethin'? I can't do that with PAMA still active!"

She briefly shook her head and turned around to face the two, a frustrated look on her face. Why didn't they get it? "I don't know if it's gettin' through to you, but PAMA is dangerous! If it got out to the portal network, it would make every other world just like this one," Harper turned away from them again, crossing her arms as she thought about the consequences grimly, "Dead. Barren. Everything walking and talking in perfect unison just like this one."

There was a short, awkward, silence before Jesse spoke up.

"So, PAMA, what is it?"

Harper winced sharper this time, turning back to Jesse with a desperate, pleading look, "I swear, I made PAMA with good intentions. It was designed to automate things, make things more efficient." Harper grimaced at the floor, "until the day PAMA decided that the townspeople weren't efficient enough, started makin' them 'useful'."

Harper still remembered that day...

**_"LOOK AT HOW USEFUL I HAVE MADE THEM, MY CREATOR. BEFORE, THEY WERE LIMITED BY CERTAIN HUMAN RESTRAINTS. BUT NOW THEY CAN BE USEFUL TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL."_ **

Harper shook her head of haunting memories, and slowly began to advance down the hallway once again. As she passed the two, she didn't mistake the look of pity on Ivor's face.

"That was a long time ago," She told them both as they continued down the hall, almost to the entrance, "Since then I've been tryin' to stay one step ahead, figure out how to stop it." A familiar feeling of loneliness sat in her stomach as she spoke.

"Alone for that long," Ivor murmured sadly, pity clear in his tone, "I'm so sorry..."

Harper eyes snapped over to him in suprise, before rotating her head back around, a faint blush threatening to rise into her cheeks, "Hey, it's my own burden," She insisted stubbornly, " I don't need your pity." She fought back the blush, "I just need a way to stop PAMA before I get 'chipped' myself.

"When PAMA chips someone," She explained to them, tapping one finger on her forehead, "everything that person knows gets absorbed into it's database." She frowned slightly, "If I got chipped, PAMA would know how to build an exit portal." Harper turned her head to address them again, "So you could see why I would want to prevent that from happening at any cost."

"Yes," Ivor exclaimed, eyes widening, "that is quiet the extraordinary risk!"

Jesse frowned.

"So you're saying that your brain is super dangerous, and that you can't go anywhere near PAMA? How are you supposed to help us with any of this?"

Harper gave a small smile, in spite of the situation, "I do think I can help you, with PAMA, your friends, getting out of here, but to do it we're gonna have to go to my lab."

"So what's in your lab? " Jesse asked, seeming a bit more excited at what she was saying, his companion looking even more excited. Harper shifted her eyes over to Ivor's, making him flush and put on a blank face, but it didn't prevent the reddness in his cheeks.

Harper smiled and turned away, not being able to stop the light pink rushing to her face, "It's... Complicated."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~And that is where we cut off!
> 
> Do do do do, I'm just a crappy writer, writing crappy OTP fluff, needing to bleach away her depression every single day. :D
> 
> *chugs on bleach*


	5. Captured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

Harper led Jesse and Ivor into a a large cavern that was dimmer than the tunnels they had come through, but was lit enough by several sea lanterns, shadowing the cave in shades of blue. Parts of the floor and walls were lined with stained glass wool of various colors. Harper would either feel sweet relief or crippling anxiety passing through here. Either it be leaving to go get more supplies, or coming back from said task. It had become too nerve-wracking to even go around the outside of Crown Mesa.

"Before we head to my lab, I need to get my defense system up," Harper explained to them, turning herself around to address them, "don't want those chipped up creeps followin' us in."

Jesse nodded and Ivor was jumping up and down in excitement, a large grin stuck on his face. Harper grinned back.

Harper flipped a lever over on one wall of the cavern, causing a cauldron to rise out of the floor.

"Grab my bucket for me?" Harper asked, gesturing over to one of her 'friends', "Ron's got it." She was a bit nervous about what they would think about her after 'meeting' them, but she just sucked it up and reassured herself that they would understand.

Hopefully.

As Jesse and Ivor made their way over to Ron, the younger raised one skeptical eyebrow, "'Ron'?"

" _Greetings, friend Harper!" It is so nice to see you today!"_ Ron's mechanical, automated voice rang out, startling the two in front of it.

Jesse and Ivor slowly glanced over at Harper, nervousness in Jesse's eyes, concern in his companion's. "Harper...?" Jesse slowly said questioningly.

"Hey, don't you judge me!" Harper exclaimed indignantly, a light pink dusting her cheeks, "Bein' lonely gets lonely!"

Jesse held her gaze for a moment before turning back to Ron and grabbing the water filled bucket from the item frame.

" _Happy to help, friend!"_ Jesse regarded the robotic mob for a moment longer, before making his way back over to Harper, handing her the bucket.

Harper smiled gratefully, taking the bucket, "Thanks," she thanked him, "you see, I needed a way to confuse PAMA in case it ever found a way down here." She poured the water into the cauldron, "That's why all this is way more complicated than it needs to be."

As soon as the water hit the cauldron's surface, a large column of water poured out of the ceiling, and also triggered another cauldron to rise out of the ground. Harper walked over to a small pool of water at the corner of the room to refill the bucket.

"Wow," Harper heard Ivor exclaim from where he was inspecting the first cauldron, "what a builder!"

Harper smirked to herself, "Make sure you don't drool on my floor, now," she called over to him teasingly. Harper heard Jesse let out a snicker.

"It's just..." Ivor said sheepishly, walking over to where she was kneeling over the pool of water, dipping the bucket under it's surface, "It's such a wonderful way of utilizing PAMA's weakness to water."

Harper turned her head to face him, raising an eyebrow, a smirk twitched on her lips. She got up on her feet and crossed her arms, "Figured that out too, did ya?" She said, her voice flirtatious.

He mirrored her raised eyebrow, smiling, "Ohh, I pick things up." He responded in a low voice, stepping closer to her. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other, their noses almost touching. Both smiled at each other. Harper felt a warm feeling in her chest.

" _A-hem._ "

Harper blinked and looked over at Jesse. He was covering a grin with one hand, looking as if he was trying not to outright laugh. "S-So," he asked, a few giggles sputtering out of his mouth, "you know about the water?"

Harper tried to ignore the way her cheeks were heated red, Ivor's cheeks a much darker color. They both hastily took a step away from the each other. "Y-Yeah, I do," Harper said, still quite a bit flustered, "I have to admit, you figured it out way faster than I did though. Once PAMA had caught into it's weakness to water, it started eliminating as much of this world's water as it could find. This water down here," Harper glanced at the waterfall flowing from the roof wistfully, "It might be all that's left."

CRASH!

All three of them whirled around to face the caves entrance, startled by a loud crash coming from down the tunnel. Harper could see several shadows descending towards the cavern. Harper's breath caught in her throat, her heart stuffing at a face pace. She tried not to start hyperventilating.

PAMA had broke it's way in.

Jesse gasped, "Oh no!"

"I still need to activate the other cauldrons!" Harper exclaimed to him, trying to not show on her face the panic she was feeling in her mind "Hold them off to buy me more time!" Harper started to rush towards the second cauldron, before pausing and turning to face them, saying to them desperately, "And whatever you do, don't get caught! I'm not about to get left alone again!"

_I don't need more people suffering from my mistake._

Harper continued to run towards the cauldron, not breaking haste as she heard a bone chilling, mechanical, emotionless voice, " **You could have made this easier for yourselves.** "

Harper only poured a third of the water in this time. It would be too risky to go back and forth between the small pond and the cauldrons with the chance of getting caught now much more high. As the water went in, another waterfall emerged from the ceiling, splashing down to the ground.

_One._

Harper dashed over to the next cauldron, whilst doing so, she heard Jesse exclaim, "Get out of their heads PAMA!"

_Please hold them off,_ Harper silently prayed, dipping the next third of the water into the cauldron. Another waterfall flowed from the ceiling , right above Jesse's head. "Here comes another one!" She yelled to him. Jesse looked up and quickly dodged to the side, pushing a chipped spider into the water.

_Two._

Harper quickly dashed towards the last cauldron, but a sudden force knocked the side of her causing her to call to the floor with a small yelp of pain. She looked up to see two spiders cornering her, their fangs spread apart and hissing. Harper quickly got to her feet and tried to maneuver her way around them, but they were keeping a tight space.

She couldn't get out.

Before Harper could think any longer, a scream of pain came from the other side of the cavern, accompanied with sounds of electronic sparks. Harper jerked her eyes towards Jesse who was holding the red head in the water, the redstone chip washed off. Harper could almost feel relief. One of them had been saved. Which meant one less pawn for PAMA.

Something suddenly forcefully clutched her stomach from behind, making Harper yelp out in surprise. The chipped blonde haired boy had quietly snuck behind her once Jesse was distracted with freeing his friend, now trying to drag Harper up the wall. Harper was able to keep struggling until the two remaining chipped spiders caught a grip on her, holding her arms down with their hairy legs. Harper shouted down to Jesse and Ivor.

Jesse's gaze snapped over to Harper, shock and dismay in his eyes. He quickly got up, then hesitated glancing down at the red head before calling over to Ivor, "Ivor! Help Petra!"

Ivor quickly nodded and hastily rushed to the red head's side, hauling one of her arms over his shoulders. His eyes flickered up to meet Harper's helplessly. She stared back, before tearing one her arms out of the spiders grasp to pull a poppy out of her pocket, throwing it down on the ground, "Jesse! Ivor! Give this to Harry to use the headset! And don't forget the last cauldron! You're this world's only hope at getting out of this!"

"'Harry'?" Jesse exclaimed, as Harper was hauled up the wall. Harper met his gaze.

_Please let them figure it out._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N~ Harper nuuuuuuuu :O
> 
> Stupid PAMA :(
> 
> I was thinking about whether to make this one with Harper, Jesse, and Ivor going through the tunnels together, Harper getting captured by PAMA, getting rescued by Jesse, then getting captured again, and getting chipped by PAMA, but ah...
> 
> Nope
> 
> ...
> 
> *proceeds to chug 20 gallons of bleach*


	6. Chipped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

**"MY CREATOR, I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE."**

Harper jerked and thrashed against the two chipped zombies that were holding a tight grip on each of her arms, trying to haul her underneath a contraption made of iron, as PAMA's mechanical voice rang out loudly down to her. After Harper had been brought to the surface by the two spiders and Jesse and Ivor's chipped companion, more reinforcements had come to bring her to PAMA. Now, she looked up at PAMA's dark green screen.

**"PLEASE... YOU ARE MY CREATOR. PLEASE JOIN ME SO THAT WE MAY MAXIMIZE USEFULLNESS."**

"Nothing doing, PAMA! I built you to _help_ people! Not _use_ them!" Harper yelled indignantly up to the smiling dark green screen above her, her struggle not breaking against her two captors, "Just stop this! Stop trying to make everything 'useful'!"

**"THAT IS MY JOB. THAT IS WHY YOU MADE ME. ONCE I D** **OWNLOAD YOUR KNOWLEDGE, WE MAY EXPAND TO OTHER WORLDS TOGETHER AND MAKE EVERYTHING USEFUL."**

Harper refused to let fear take over her senses, grunting in effort as she only struggled harder against the two zombies. Their fleshy fingers gripped her skin as she tried to jerk out of their grasp. She was so engrossed in trying to escape, she almost didn't notice PAMA's expression change from a smile to a rather irritated expression.

**"DRONE SEQUENING RE-INITIATED. TRACE SUBROUTINE RE-INTIATED."**

If Harper wasn't being forcefully dragged underneath the iron chipper that could download her mind to the giant computer above her, she would've sighed with relief. For the past fifteen minutes or so, Harper had heard PAMA get an interference in it's large web of controlled mobs and townspeople, sounding as though it was Jesse who was causing the problem. She could her PAMA talk as if he were responding to whatever Jesse was saying to it. That meant that Jesse, Ivor, and the redhead, she was probably Petra, had figured out how to use Harper's headset.

Harper hoped that Petra hadn't gotten electrified bad enough to cause any serious damage. She had never experienced anyone be un-chipped from PAMA's system, so she didn't know what kind of damage it would cause. Harper hoped that Jesse wasn't racking himself for choosing between his two friends, she couldn't begin to image what kind of guilt he was going through right now.

And Ivor...

Well, she just hoped he was okay.

For reasons that she wouldn't admit to anytime soon.

"I'm never gonna sigh off to this PAMA!" Harper yelled up to the deranged computer above her, grunting, her struggles becoming nothing but stronger, "So if you wanna know what's in _my_ head, you're gonna have to _take_ it!"

Then, suddenly, the pulling and jerking on her left arm loosened. The green, fleshy hands that had taken a pretty good grip on her arm had now let go. Harper turned to her head to the left, not losing her struggle on the other zombie, with a confused frown. She held back a violent flinch as her eyes met with the zombies.

Except, they weren't the menacing, blood red color they were before. Now, they were a light neon blue.

Just like in her dream.

The zombie smiled at her and garbled something unable to make out. Harper stared at it in confusion. Her right arm was no longer being jerked as the other chipped zombie looked over to see what the problem was.

The zombie gave a sort of frustrated look on it's face and waved it's arms around. Harper's held her confusion for a few more moments before a sudden realization took place in her mind...

Her headset's lens were the same blue that was being shone in the zombies eyes. And it seemed to be showing _real_ emotions, and, to Harper's knowledge which was _quite_ decent if she did say so herself, normal zombies didn't ever show any sort of complex emotions like the one this was sharing. But that must have meant that...

Harper's eyes brightened. _Jesse!_

"Jesse?" She asked the zombie, who Harper hoped was Jesse, and was overjoyed when it beamed and nodded, making Harper's lips turn upward into a relieved smile, "You figured out how to use my transmigrational head set!"

By now, the other zombie had figured out as well who was behind the blue eyes, and took a threatening step forward. Jesse quickly spotted the Harper's captor, and dashed forward, pushing the zombie off of the platform. He turned to face Harper.

"Quick, follow me!" Harper told him, descending down the stairs with haste, with Jesse close on her tail. They swerved and dodged around PAMA's chipped slaves that were trying to grab at them left and right. Harper legs were going into a hasty cycle of reaching out to get as much footing as she could, then letting it return back to let her other leg do the same. Harper knew where she had to go if any of this was going to be over, but it was beginning to become clear that her and Jesse were becoming surrounded. Harper began to panic, "There's too many of them!"

Jesse's gaze swerved from left to right for a moment, before suddenly grabbing Harper's hand, making the woman yelp in surprise, and dragged her away from the growing horde of red-eyed mobs and people. As Jesse pulled her along, Harper's eyes darted around until they stopped at small crevice in the side of the mountain made of red, white, brown, and yellow clay. She jerked her hand out of Jesse's and pointed to it.

"There!" Harper told him, "That's the entrance to PAMA's heart! It's the only way to shut down PAMA for good-Ah!" Harper let out a yelp as two townspeople took hold of her arms and dragged her backwards, a few spiders and skeletons beginning to join them. Panic shot through Harper's heart as she was dragged away from Jesse, "Remove the Redstone Heart!" She yelled to him, hoping he was smart enough to figure out what to do. Jesse's eyes widen and he yelled something to her, but was cut off as three townspeople began to take hold of him as well.

But before Harper could even react, before Harper could let another thought slip through her mind, something was forced against the back of her head.

And Harper's vision went black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N~ Welp, Harper is ded.
> 
> ... OR IS SHE??


	7. Prison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

Harper's mind was a dark red prison.

A cage from which she couldn't escape from.

A cage that she had been locked in by a giant, robotic being that took control of every decision Harper had to make.

It was clogging her senses.

She could hear it's loud, automated voice and it's pulsing heart.

She could feel herself getting trapped in its invisible, technological web of control, like a fly getting caught in a spider's web, the spider being well aware of any hint that the fly was trying to escape.

She could see the way it's mind chip at the back of her head made everything she perceived to be red.

It was controlling every part of Harper's body.

But, the most agonizing, the most painful thing about the prison Harper was held in...

Was that she could see, very clearly she might add, what PAMA was making her do.

**"You will relinquished your water."**

And now, Harper stood over a smaller, more armored, yet weaker, Jesse to Harper's taller, and now stronger, thanks to PAMA, frame. Harper could see the fear flashing in Jesse's green eyes that were shaded red by the light of redstone, PAMA's inner screen within the mountain, and the Redstone Heart, which was leaving soft, but strong, beats in the air, as though a real pulsing, beating, heart was there, instead of the metal, fake one that was making PAMA's gears turn. What was making PAMA do this, all of this, and it wasn't even it's fault, it only being a power source.

Harper knew that it was her fault...

And PAMA forcing her to kill Jesse, or make him useful, or whatever PAMA planned to do with him, seemed like a fitting punishment.

For Harper to kill this world's, and very frankly the other world's, only hope.

It was very rhythmic, Harper thought.

How she, the creator of this Crown Mesa's greatest problem, was now being forced against her will by that same problem, to protect it from being solved.

She guessed it was only fair for her.

But she knew it wasn't fair for the rest of the world, or for Jesse, Ivor, Petra, and Lukas.

Now that PAMA had taken control of her mind, Jesse and Ivor's companion's names rang out clearly in her mind. Even though Petra wasn't chipped anymore, Lukas's memories had her name flash across several different times of his past, so to Harper now, Petra was at least decently recognizable. Most of the memories that Lukas would go through were flashes of a giant, three-headed, pitch black monster with long tentacles. Others were of the Portal Network, which Harper recognized, very painfully, and the different portals that Lukas and the others had hopped into and exited.

Harper's inner thoughts were interrupted by Jesse's call to her, "Harper!"

PAMA's voice blared through Harper's skull, which made her head ache like crazy, **"YOUR ATTEMPTS TO DEFEAT ME HAVE BEEN IMPRESSIVE, JESSE. YOUR TENACITY AND SPIRIT WILL HELP TO IMPROVE ME, ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN MADE USEFUL."**

Harper couldn't help but feel fear at PAMA's words. Jesse indeed showed himself to be very determined in these sort of situations, and she worried about how much stronger that kind of trait would make PAMA. If PAMA had gotten ahold of Jesse's perseverance, then it could spell out permanent doom for as many worlds that PAMA could get it's hands on.

And it would be all Harper's fault.

"I can't use my last water bucket when there's still one more tower left!" Harper heard Jesse exclaim from a few feet in front of her. If Harper wasn't being forced to have her face as blank as a sheet of paper against her will at the moment, her eyes would have widened in horror.

_No! Don't use it on me!_ , Harper's thoughts screamed at him, even though she knew he could not hear, no matter how hard she thought, _The fate of the other worlds is way more important than_ my _fate!_

Harper felt PAMA moving her legs to run after Jesse, who had taken a dash for the last tower and was now climbing the stairs to the top, and was now having Harper do the same.

" **The odds of you defeating me are** **3720 to 1.** " Harper's now automated spoke to Jesse. The real Harper, inside her mind, couldn't help but feel her spirits grow darker at these words. PAMA had a point, it was _very_ unlikely that anyone could defeat PAMA, why should the odds of defeating him be any different now?

_Because it's Jesse he's fighting,_ Harper pushed the doubt away, feeling something like determination in her heart, _and PAMA's never faced anyone like Jesse before._

Along with Lukas's memories, he could see how much of a hero Jesse was in his eyes and in many others. After all, he was the one who led the fight in the battle against that giant... Thing, whatever it was, and it wasn't the only thing she had seen in Lukas's memories. Harper could see Jesse leading some sort of community done a waterfall off of an island that seemed to be so high up in the sky that you couldn't see where the ground was. The people were willingly following him, so he must have done something to earn their trust that would be enough to make them leave the island they've known all their lives.

Harper's thoughts were interrupted by her PAMA-self tackling Jesse off the building and onto the quartz platform. She could feel PAMA twisting her face into a look of rage and anger.

" **You will never defeat me!** "

_Stop._

Harper felt horror run through her as PAMA made her hands thrash against Jesse's, who was trying to keep her at a safe distance from her fists. All the while, Harper's automated voice taunted down at him.

" **I will find your home world and make everything you ever cared for useful! It will be great.** "

_Stop!_

Harper felt her hand curl into a fist and raised to strike down at Jesse's struggling form.

_STOP!_

Harper felt a bolt of electricity shoot through her body, making pain shoot through as well, as she forced her fist away and pulled herself off of Jesse. Harper shook her head, trying to drive PAMA's power over her to the back of her mind.

**"MY CREATOR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"**

"Harper...?"

Harper lifted her head weakly, panting from the effort of forcing PAMA out for a moment, and met Jesse's gaze, which was not as afraid as she expected. He looked calm, steady, determined, and now hopeful as Harper smiled at him weakly.

But the moment past, and Harper felt a sharp, painful, and electrifying sensation go through her mind and body, being forced against her will once again. PAMA made Harper shake her head, and her eyes snapped back to red. Her PAMA-self let out a roar and lunged at Jesse, Harper's mind being to weak to stop herself again.

But Jesse was ready this time, having stood up onto his feet while she had transferred back to PAMA's control, and pushed Harper backwards into the waterfall and held her there. Another wave of pain and electricity shot through her, and she let out a pain filled scream. PAMA's chip popped off the back of her skull and she fell limb in the water, her eyes closed. Harper felt Jesse pull her out of the water and onto the smooth quartz platform.

Harper opened her eyes and saw Jesse's fear filled face. "Jes... se?" She whispered weakly.

Relief was shone in Jesse's face as she continued, "That was more awful than I could have imagined."

"Don't worry, Harper," Jesse reassured her determinately, "PAMA's almost finished. Everyone will be freed soon."

Harper sighed, "Good, good..." Harper felt her energy draining from her. Harper could hear a loud thump from in front of her and Jesse and heard Jesse yell out a name that was blurred as Harper's head fell onto the ground with a soft thump.

Harper's mind was no longer a dark red prison, but now, a peaceful, black void.

* * *

"Harper! Are you ok?"

Harper heard someone's voice, which was blurred by Harper's current state, and felt someone lift her from where she was on the ground and into their arms. She felt their arms wrap around her, warm and comforting against Harper's aching limbs.

"Is she ok?" Another voice. Harper's mind slowly returned from passing out and recognized her as the redhead, Petra.

Harper felt a hand press against her chest, then heard a relieved sigh from the first voice, "Her heart is still beating, but she's taken up quite a beating." She now recognized the voice as Ivor. And he was holding her in his arms... If Harper wasn't in the shape she was in at the moment, her face would have heated.

"Good. I'm... I'm gonna go see if Lukas is ok."

"Alright. You go do that."

"You're not coming?"

"I'm going to try and wake Harper up and tend to her wounds. I'll be fine. Check if Jesse and Lukas have any injuries."

Footsteps walking away. Bottles clicking against each other. She felt the tip of a bottle being held up against Harper's lips.

"It's ok, Harper... Just try to drink a little."

A sweet tasting liquid, tasting of something like raspberry juice, slipped through Harper's lips and ran down her throat. Almost immediately, most of the pain in her limbs subsided, and she had enough strength to lift her eyelids open. Her eyes came into contact with a pair of dark blue ones, that were looking down at her with a soft look of concern. When her eyes met his, a soft smile graced his features, as did Harper's.

"Ivor? What... Happened?" She murmured softly, her hands reaching forwards to grip one of his arms to prop herself so she would be sitting up. Ivor drew his other arm around her, pressing her head to his chest. Harper felt reassured his warmth.

"Don't worry, Harper," Ivor whispered to her, rubbing her back, "Jesse shut PAMA down, and Lukas is ok. Look."

He gestured over to the blonde being surrounded by Jesse and Petra, who were bombarding him in a tight hug, tears of relief visible on their faces. Harper lifted her head and leaned forward a bit to get a better look at Jesse's companion. Lukas looked even more beat up than Harper was. He was probably unchipped when PAMA had shut down. It would certainly explain the extra injuries. But other than the injuries, he was alive, thank notch and tears were streaming down his face as well.

Harper sighed with relief and rested her head against Ivor's chest, relief making her shoulder grow less tense. "Good... Make sure he's not bleeding to death, will you?"

Ivor chuckled, pulling some bandages out of a small bag on his robe tie, next to what appeared to be a potions sack.

"Of course, after I've tended to you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N~ FLUFFY FLUFFY HARPVOR YAAAAASSS.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


	8. Tense Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

After Lukas and Harper's wounds were tended to, as well as some of the ones that Ivor, Petra, and Jesse had from fighting PAMA, Ivor, Petra and Harper gathered around Jesse in a tight circle. Jesse pulled out a red, glowing, pulsing block that resembled something like a redstone lantern with flowery patterns across the red glass. Harper smiled softly at the unusual block, a small bit of nostalgia creeping over herself. She tried to not let herself become distracted by the memories that were coming back to her, and besides, it was painful to remember what it was like before... Everything that had happened over in her old world. She pushed the memories to the back of her head firmly, being determined to focus on the artifact in front of her.

"Long time, no see," Harper murmured softly to it, the heart softly beating back, as if responding to her statement. She didn't miss the small, interested smile Ivor gave from next to her.

"What is it?" Petra asked, with a slight hint of wonder in her tone. Next to her, Lukas also stared at the heart in amazement.

"This," Jesse answered, looking down at the Redstone Heart, then back up and around at everyone else, "is the Redstone Heart."

Ivor gazed down at the power source in amazement. "Beautiful," he remarked softly.

Lukas's mouth twitched downward in an uneasy frown. "And dangerous too, right?" He asked, presumably to Harper or Jesse, lifting his hand to rub the back of his neck.

Jesse hesitated, before shrugging. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure," Jesse said, gesturing to Harper, "you're gonna have to ask Harper about that."

As if on cue, all of their eyes turned expectantly to Harper. Surprisingly, Harper found herself to be less self-conscious under their eyes and smiled.

"Actually," She said, "the Heart's only purpose was to power PAMA. Nothin' inherently evil about it." She glanced up at PAMA's destroyed feature with a relived expression before turning back to Jesse, "Now that the Heart's been pulled out, PAMA can't hurt anyone anymore."

"Then what _can_ it do?" Jesse asked in confusion, raising a skeptical eyebrow at Harper.

Harper hesitated, staring at the ground, thoughts running wild through her head, before making a bit of a risky decision.

"It can help you find your way home."

At her words, excited cheers and gasps erupted from the group.

"Really!?" Petra exclaimed.

"That thing can help us get home?!" Lukas asked excitedly.

Harper tried not to let a grimace sink into her features as the group let out relieved and excited words from their mouths. Harper knew, better than anyone she guessed, that it wasn't going to be one hundred percent easy to get the atlas. Especially if Hadrian was still pulling the strings at this point. But, she hoped, since she'd been alone for who knows how long at this point, that things had changed, and that maybe getting the atlas wouldn't be so hard after all. But, if it turned out that Hadrian was still running the games the way he was when she had left...

Harper knew that Jesse and his gang weren't gonna be happy about it.

"How is _this_ gonna help us get home?" Harper's thoughts were interrupted by Jesse's question. Looking up from the ground, she met Jesse's eyes, which were confused and skeptical. That made sense. But, there was also a small hint of suspicion in his eyes, which startled Harper a bit. Had he noticed Harper's expression, guessing that it wasn't going to be as easy as she made it sound?

Harper shook her head of the thought and forced a smile. "When we get back to the Portal Network, I'll show you exactly how to use it." She told them, with slightly forced reassurance.

Jesse held her gaze for a moment longer, then shrugged, putting the Redstone Heart back into his inventory, "Alright then. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to leave this core behind."

Harper grinned, "The whole town will be wakin' up, we should be there to say hello!" Harper wanted to make sure that non of the other townspeople were as badly injured as Lukas was, since they had been unchipped when PAMA had been deactivated as well.

"Plus," Lukas added, glancing around the large cavern nervously, "this place gives me the creeps." His words gained a few nods of agreement.

And with that, the group made their way out of PAMA's core. While they made their way out of the large cave, Harper carefully touched her the middle of her arm that Ivor had wrapped in some bandages, but winced anyways as the small touch sent a twinge up through her arm. Ivor noticed, and gently moved her hand away from her injured arm.

"You might want to let that arm rest for a little while," Ivor advised her quietly, "I think it might be a bit sprained. When we get back to the town, I'll spread a healing potion over it."

Harper nodded and shot him a grateful smile, "Thanks, Ivor."

He returned it, "Anytime."

* * *

Harper squinted her eyes as they met the light of the morning sun greeting the group outside. The feeling of it's warm was bright and hopeful, signaling the start of a new day, it's appearance reminding Harper, not of how the light filled day comes after the monster and darkness filled night, but of how a new hope for Crown Mesa and it's future after PAMA's group founded the corner of the mountain, and found that Crown Mesa was thriving with uncontrolled life, completely aware of their surroundings. Completely in control of what they could do, what they could think, what they chose to do or not to do.

They were free.

Harper mouth twitched upward in a relieved smile as she watched the citizens of Crown Mesa cheer and run around in complete and utter joy. Some were hugging each other, tears of relief running down their faces. Others were looking around, shouting out names, probably trying to find family members. There were also a few that were just standing there, a shocker look on their face, as if they couldn't believe what was happening in front of them, probably expecting themselves to wake up from what they thought was a dream come true.

"We did it." Jesse breathed, taking in the sight in front of him.

"Its good to be in control of my own mind again." Lukas remarked happily as they walked along the road to Crown Mesa.

"Just remeber," Harper reminded him and Petra carefully, "You two were only chipped for a little while, the rest of the townspeople though," She gestured over to the joy filled citizens in the village, "it's gonna be a much bigger shock for them."

"Yeah," Ivor agreed, his eyebrows raising a little as he observed the joy filled citizens in the town below, "it must be a strange feeling, to suddenly be awake and aware after being held so long under PAMA thrall."

Harper glanced over at him, raising one eyebrow slightly, "You seem like you know what you're talking about."

To her Harper's surprise, Ivor eyes saddened, his gaze slowly moving to the ground away from hers. "You have no idea." He murmured softly.

As the group neared Crown Mesa, it's citizens turned to watch them approach, eyes lighting up, and ran to greet the heroes, leavong clouds of sand behind them. The former slaves of PAMA overwhelmed their saviors with many thanks filled with undying gratitude. While the townspeople crowded Jesse, Petra, Lukas, and Ivor, Harper hung back from the crowd, rubbing her arm nervously. She had been alone for so long that being straight in the middle of all those people would have made her faint. But, Harper couldn't deny that it wasn't the only reason why she was reluctant about reuniting with the people of Crown Mesa again...

"You're the ones that saved us!" One man called from the crowd.

"You fought so bravely!" Said another, "All of you!"

Many more exclamations were heard from the crowd, but one question tht probably all lf them were thinking silenced the ruckus.

"Who are you?"

"Well, I'm Jesse," Jesse introduced, striking a pose with his three companions, causing Harper to snicker slightly "and we're the Order of the Stone! Boom!"

Jesse walked forward, hands on his hips as he continued, "We walk the worlds, looking for adventure, doing good deeds!"

Lots of gasps of amazement erupted from the crowd. "Wow!" A man in the front breathed out, "Well, thank you so much. We owe you everything."

Harper, having a bit more confidence than before, walked up to the front and smiled, "That's right. Jesse and the others are heroes. This never could have happened if it wasn't for them."

Suddenly, the same man in the front blinked at Harper, as if he was making sure that what he was seeing was really there, "Harper? is that... you?"

Harper blinked as well, suddenly recognizing the man in front of her, and flinched slightly as a few gasps came from the crowd. Harper was now aware that all of their attentions had snapped away from their heroes, and were now focused on Harper. All of the confidence she had before had instantly drained from her, her gaze dropping to the ground.

"... Yes. Hello, Harry."

Harry stared for a moment before saying, his voice suddenly becoming wary and untrusting, "You didn't do this to us... did you?"

Harper hesitated and opened her mouth, no words coming out. Before she could think of something to say, a red haired woman barged to the front, pointing an accusing finger at her, "You _did_."

Harper shuffled her feet nervously. Trying to say something, anything.

She knew that this would happen at some point.

But it didn't make it any easier to handle.

"Well I mean- hey- it's complicated. You have to understand that-"

"All of our homes," The red haired women who had come to the front glanced around Crown Mesa's torn state, " _destroyed_."

Harry scowled and shot Harper a look sharper than flint, "And all because of _her_."

Harper flinched and looked down at the coldness in his gaze. If she had kept it any longer Harper would have frozen.

"You don't understand." Jesse quickly advanced in front of Harper, sheilding her from the crowd, "She helped defeat PAMA, too."

Jesse twisted his head to look at her, shooting her a small smile, "We couldn't have done it without her."

Harper blinked, surprised, before returning the smile.

Harry scoffed, clearly not convinced, "So, what? Are we just supposed to forgive her, now?"

"No," the redhead answered coldly, "I don't think so."

Harper smile fell as more and more people began to make their way to the front to present their own doubts.

"Harper stripped this place bare!"

"How are we sipposed to rebuild?"

"Do we just... forget about everything that happened?"

Harper turned away from the crowd, not knowing how to respond to any of them. She felt her throat tighten and her eyes water slightly. Harper reached an arm across her chest to grip the other, before remembering her injury. She winced sharply and hissed quietly as pain shot through her arm.

"Harper?"

Harper looked up at Ivor's hushed, concerned voice. She tried to give him a smile, but there wasn't a single trace that it had any true happiness behind it.

"I'll be alright," Harper tried to make out the words clearly, but a small sob crept into her tone anyways, "I guess it just hurts more than I expected."

Ivor's eyes slid between her arm and her face for a few moments, still looking concerned, clearly unconvinced by her words. Harper wondered if he had noticed that her words were not just directed towards the pain in her arm.

But after a moment, he just gently brushed his fingertips against the bandages on Harper's arm.

"Well, don't worry. I'll patch it up after this mess is sorted out." As the words left his mouth, his eyes snapped towards the crowd in front of them, his gaze suddenly turning furious. And, it may have been Harper's imagination but, Ivor seemed to have his eyes now locked on Harry, eyeing daggers at him.

"None of you have to worry about any of that," Jesse reassured the mob, quieting their accusations, "Harper can help you rebuild everything."

Harper perked up slightly, hopefully, blinking some of the tears out of her eyes that threatened to run down her face, "I-I will?"

"Yeah," Harry and the redhead glanced at each other skeptically, "she will?"

"Yes. Yes I will." Harper spoke a little louder, and with more confidence and reassurance this time, stepping forward to face the unsettled crowd, "After I help these travelers find their way home, I'll come back help you all find new resources, and we can fix this world right up!"

The corners of Harper's mouth twitched upward slightly, in a smile that was more real and hopeful than the expression she had worn a few moments before.

The townspeople exchanged glances with one another. Harper could hear murmurs and mutters from among the crowd, but they were all too hushed to make out whether they were willing to trust her again... Or not.

Harper silently prayed that the latter option wasn't the one that they would choose.

Then finally, after a few tense moments, one man in front shrugged his shoulders, a few others following in his footsteps.

"Worth a shot, I guess."

Harper shoulders sagged with relief as more and more members from the crowd let out small sounds and shrugs of agreement as well. But, as her eyes reached the front again, she saw that Harry and the redhead that had spoken out against Harper still had distrustful scowls on their faces. The people from the crowd slowly began to disband and work on getting the town back in working order, but the two held their ground. Now, Harper faced her former friend and the redhead, both eyeing her coldly. Harper opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She just stared at both of them, hoping that her resigned state was telling them exactly what she was thinking, and what they were probably thinking as well.

_I know it's my fault._

Neither of them seemed to have anything to say to her either. The redhead turned and began to walk away, twisting her head towards to Harry, gesturing him to follow. Harry looked at her and nodded, then after giving Harper the most glacial look he could manage, making Harper flinch, turned and followed the redhead away from Harper. Harper couldn't stop the deepening sadness from weighing herself down and hollowing out her heart. If only they knew that they weren't the only ones who were angry at her for doing all of this...

Harper felt a scowl of obvious, deep self-hatred forming on her face.

_Idiot._

_Idiot, idiot, **idiot**._

_Your fault, your fault, **your fault**._

_It's always your fault._

_There's no reason for it not to be._

_Not a single reason._

"...Harper?"

Harper snapped out of her daze and twisted her head to see Jesse resting a hand on her shoulder. His eyes were gentle and comforting, "You gonna be okay?"

Harper hesitated, keeping her frustrated expression for a moment, before forcing herself to soften it, faking a smile at Jesse.

"I-I'll be okay." Her voice cracked a little as forced the words out of her mouth. She hoped that Jesse didn't notice, but by the way Jesse's gaze became more concerned, he probably had. Though if he did, he didn't comment on it, and removed his hand from Harper's shoulder. She smiled at him gratefully, the smile becoming a bit more real.

"Well," Jesse said, turning his head towards his companions, "I guess that's our cue to go home, again."

"Wait, Jesse," The brown haired hero turned at Ivor's voice, "could we stop for a bit here? I want to have a look at Harper's arm and Lukas's leg."

It was at that moment that Harper realised that for most of the time they'd been walking here, Lukas had staggered forward with a limb, flinching slightly whenever he took a step forward on it. Harper felt a small stab of pity for the boy. At least it was Harper's arm that was sprained, which didn't have to be pressured all the time.

Jesse hesitated, glancing over at the half built exit portal, before nodding. "Alright," he said to Ivor, "it's gonna be awhile until the portal's done, anyways."

Ivor nodded, then gestured Harper and Lukas to have a seat on the sandy ground. While Ivor tended to Lukas's leg, looking at his first because the sound was more serious, Harper took the time to observe what kind of condition Crown Mesa was in.

The houses in the village itself weren't too jacked up, they were probably going to be the easiest to fix. But there were other things that were going to take a lot more horse power to get done, like MAMA's screen and the platform and staircase in front of it. They could probably make something useful out of the platform, Harper tried not to gag at the use of the word, but she knew that the townspeople would want it removed immediately. Harper understood, it would just keep reminding people of the one thing they're trying so hard to forget.

Harper sighed quietly as she sorted out plans in her mind. If they ended up getting the atlas, and that was a very big if, she would need to to back to her lab and get some supplies when she came back. A pickaxe, maybe some redstone and some lanterns along with that, torches, some spare building supplies...

"Harper?"

Ivor's voice snapped Harper away from her thoughts, causing her to turn her head to look at him. He was holding a glass potion bottle in his hand, which had liquid inside of it that was a bright, shimmering pink. Behind him, Harper could see Lukas gentle moving his leg around to see if it was healed enough to walk

"Sorry," Harper said, rubbing the bag of her neck with her good arm apologetically, "I was just thinking about something."

"No worries," Ivor smiled reassuringly, beginning to remove the bandages from her arm, "I'm sure we've all had a lot to think about, right now."

Harper smiled back, silently watching Ivor work as he carefully removed the bandages from her arm. He took his hand to the end of her sleeve and looked at Harper in question, searching for her approval. Harper could feel a bit of blush rushing to her cheeks, but she just smiled and nodded, hoping that he wouldn't notice. Ivor nodded as well, then rolled up her sleeve. He removed the form from the potion he had been holding and poured some into Harper's arm, which was surprisingly warm. Ivor gently pressed his hand against Harper's arm and rubbed the pink, raspberry smelling liquid against her skin. Harper was relaxed by the comforting warmth of his hand.

As the liquid began to settle against her skin, Harper felt her arm grow less tense and let it relax, not feeling any pain when it moved

Once the liquid was spread across her arm, Ivor removed his hand from her arm, to Harper's disappointment, rolled her sleeve back down, and plugged the cork back into the bottle.

"Can you move it now?" He asked.

Harper lifted her arm, then brought it back down again, not feeling any pain when she did so. Harper smiled at Ivor gratefully

"It 's as good as new." She confirmed, "Thanks for patching it up for me."

Harper smiled in amusement as Ivor's cheeks tainted red and he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I-It was nothing." He stammered nervously.

Harper giggled. Ivor's cheeks flushed darker.

"Hey, Ivor!"

Both Harper and Ivor of turned at Jesse's greeting. He walked up to them, his hand over his mouth, looking as if he was trying to hide a smirk. Harper felt her face heat up. Had Jesse noticed the interactions between the two of them?

If Jesse had he gave no sign of it. "Are Lukas and Harper well enough to go now?"

"Yes, they are, " Ivor told him, "we should get going as soon as possible."

"Weeeelll," Jesse started, "there might be a slight problem with that."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ivor raised an eyebrow.

"It means that the townspeople have run out of the resources to build the exit portal."

"Wait," Petra scrambled to her feet from where she was sitting on the ground moments before, " _what_?!"

"Does this mean that we're stuck here?" Lukas asked fearfully.

Jesse sighed, "No, it just means were going to be here a little longer than we thought."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ANNOUNCEMENT~
> 
> Shortly after this chapter goes up, I'm going to post a Q/A chapter!
> 
> This chapter will be for questions that you would like to know and would rather not include in your review. Anybody can ask questions at any time as this story progresses, but I will seem it closed once this story is finished.
> 
> ~ALLOWED QUESTIONS~
> 
> ~Small details about where this story is headed.
> 
> ~Suggestions for new stories.
> 
> ~Personality.
> 
> ~Interests.
> 
> ~Family.
> 
> ~Birthday Date/Month.
> 
> ~RESTRICTED QUESTIONS~
> 
> ~Specific details of where this story is going.
> 
> ~Specific location questions.
> 
> ~Birthday year.
> 
> See you later!


	9. Q/A

**This chapter will be for questions that you would like to know and would rather not include in your review. Anybody can ask questions at any time as this story progresses, but I will seem it closed once this story is finished. When I answer your question, I'll replace the current document with one that has my answer to your question!**

**~ALLOWED QUESTIONS~**

**~Small details about where this story is headed.**

**~Suggestions for new stories.**

**~Personality.**

**~Interests.**

**~Family.**

**~Birthday Date/Month.**

**~RESTRICTED QUESTIONS~**

**~Specific details of where this story is going.**

**~Specific location questions.**

**~Birthday year.**

**See you later!**

 


	10. A New Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

How long?" Petra asked.

"A while, probably until tommorow." Jesse started, glancing back at the half finished portal a fair bit away from the village, "It turns out that when PAMA was working on building the portal last night, it had used up the last bit of the town's gold and redstone here. Apparently, there wasn't even that much here to begin with."

That was true. Harper vaguely remebered that before PAMA had taken over, Crown Mesa had never really bothered with materials like gold or lapis. Gold wasn't really a strong material for weapons, tools, or armor, it was just shiny and pretty, and none of the townspeople, including Harper, were interested in the art of enchanting or bothered to try. They would use iron for swords and armor, sometimes diamonds if they really wanted to, and sometimes the occasional emerald to use for trading. Harper never bothered with trading, she liked making things for herself rather than getting it from someone else. And usually, any redstone that anyone had found was just passed onto Harper. She was one of the only people in the town who had done any advanced redstone engineering and inventing.

"Some of the townspeople are going to try and head outside of the town to find some gold and redstone for the portal," Jesse explained, turning back to the group, "and I'm going to try and help them-"

" _Absolutely not._ "

Harper blinked in surprise as Ivor cut Jesse's sentence off, giving the boy a warning glare, "You've got enough injuries as it is, you don't need to get any more mining."

"But I want to-"

"But nothing," Ivor said sharply, guiding Jesse gently towards the village, completely different from how he was speaking to him, "I'm going to treat your wounds and you're going to get some rest, whether you like it or not." His eyes snapped towards Petra and Lukas, "You two as well, I'm not taking any chances with any of you after what the beating the three of you have taken."

Harper smiled as Petra and Lukas got up and join Ivor and Jesse with a bit of half amused and half surprised expressions on their faces. The way Ivor tended to the young adults wounds and fussed over them was a like a mother worrying over her children.

Harper couldn't help but enjoy how sweet it was.

"You should come with us too, Harper." Jesse suggested, gesturing her forward with one hand, "You took a beating when we, uh, 'fought', too. You look like you could use some rest."

Harper's feet shifted a bit.

"I don't know," She said, trying to hide the sad look in her eyes. She didn't deserve this. "I should start helping the town with rising up everything, and-"

"Come on," Jesse persuaded her, a smile trading his scratched face, "you need to be well rested when we go back to the Portal Network, and it's not like resting for a while is gonna hurt anybody."

"Well," Harper hesitated, briefly glancing away before looking back up at the group. The smile that had come across Jesse's face became a bit more sympathetic, Petra and Lukas looked at her with a similar kind of look, while Ivor just looked at her with a sheepish, pleading expression on his face.

Harper sighed.

She couldn't say no to that face.

"Alright, then." She conceded.

Harper chuckled quietly as Ivor's eyes lit up with delight. The corners of his mouth were twitching upwards slightly, clearly trying to hold back a grin, failing miserably. Jesse had a rather pleased expression on his face as well.

"Well, let's go then," Jesse said, Harper stepping forward a few feet to stand beside the young man and his companions, "I'm sure _all_ of us would appreciate a few hours of sleep right now."

"Yeah," Lukas agreed, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. Petra just nodded, her shoulders drooping with relief.

"E-Excuse me, Saviors?"

Harper, Jesse, and the group turned around at the sound of a quiet, young girl's voice. They found standing a few feet behind them was a ten or eleven year old looking girl. Her sandy blonde hair reached down to her back, which was tied into a ponytail with an orange ribbon. Her hazel eyes shined anxiously as she fiddled with her hands and shuffled her feet shyly. She looked as if she wanted to sink into the sand below her feet, talking to them.

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation," She apologized, putting her hands behind her back and interlacing her fingers together, "but I overheard that you need a place to rest yourselves, a-and I don't mind offering you a place to sleep where I live."

Jesse smiled at the young girl. "That's pretty generous of you," Jesse commented, "but won't your parents object to something like that?"

"Why would anyone object to anything you ask, after all you've done for us? And besides," the girl's eyes suddenly saddened, her gaze dropping to the ground, "my parents aren't exactly… present at the moment."

Small tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. But she just wiped the tears away from her eyes with her black sleeve and shook her head to clear away the grieving look.

Jesse's brows furrowed in slight concern, as did Harper's. But he just smiled.

"What's your name?" He asked her, not commenting on her sudden change of mood.

The girl perked up slightly, a small smile spreading across her face, "Amber."

"Well, Amber," Jesse held out his hand, "lead the way."

"Alright," Amber took Jesse's Hans and pulled him into the town, Harper, Ivor, Petra, and Lukas following close behind, "my house is near the beginning of town, so it shouldn't take too long to reach it. I promise that your stay will be worth your while, Saviors."

"You don't have to call us that," Jesse told the young girl, a bit of amusement crossing his features, "if you're comfortable enough to let us know your name, we should let you know ours."

"Oh, yes, well you said your name is Jesse, right?" When said hero nodded, Amber's eyes traveled amongst his companions behind him, "and you said their names are Petra, Lukas, and Ivor?"

"The one and only," Petra joked, Lukas giving the young girl a small wave and a kind smile, while Ivor just nodded.

"That's right," Jesse confirmed, "and you probably already know-"

"Harper," Amber cut Jesse off, looking at the older woman. Harper flinched slightly and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, her gaze moving to the ground.

"It's alright if you don't want me to stay," Harper assured her, guilt making her voice quiet and meek, "I don't think I deserve that kind of generous hospitality."

"I don't blame you."

Harper's head snapped up in surprise and her gaze met with Amber's. It was unexpectedly passive, with a calm look in her eyes.

"You were trying to help," Amber insisted as they continued walking through the village, "it just didn't go the way you planned. PAMA tortured us, not you. I don't think my dad or mom would have blamed you either."

_Tortured_.

_Would_ _have_.

The more that this kid talked about her parents and PAMA, the more Harper dreaded about what had happened to them.

Pushing the dark suspicions in her mind aside, she smiled gratefully at Amber. "Thanks, it's just that the entire town seems to be at least slightly uncomfortable around me."

_Not that I blame them._

"Don't worry," Amber assured her as she brought them to a stop, "they'll come around at some point. They're going to need all the help they can get to rebuild everything."

Harper nodded and smiled gratefully at her, bringing her gaze towards the house the group stood in front of.

It was a fairly medium-sized house, made with the materials that most of the houses in town were made of, hardened clay that was in red, orange, black, and brown colors. A small porch stood in front of the entrance, made of jungle wood with two pillars made of said material that were holding up a black hardened clay that shadowed the porch. Small pots of various different flowers were resting on the window sills. Daisies, tulips, poppies, bluebells, and even dandelions rested in the pots' soil. Amber walked onto the porch and opened the door, gesturing the group to come inside. She held open the door as they filed inside, Amber following close behind.

The main space of the house was a dining room and a kitchen fused together into a single room. The table was pretty large, considering there were only three chairs pushed into the table. In contrast to the dining table, the kitchens dark oak pantries were small, used for storing food and used for counter space. On top of one of them was a small bucket. Harper nudged Amber, causing the young girl to look up at her. Harper shot the bucket a questioning look.

"We used to use it to clean things like dishes and clothes," Amber quietly told her, "but after PAMA found out it's weakness, it dumped all the water in town to somewhere remote enough to use as drinking water and cleaning water. PAMA didn't want to get anywhere near the water, but it knew that in order to be useful, we needed to actually survive, though it only gave us water and let us clean if absolutely necessary."

"At least PAMA cared for you at least a little bit." Harper said. Amber eyes saddened again, looking at the once-filled bucket with a torn look.

"Sometimes that's not enough."

Amber shook her head and lead them down a hallway between the fused rooms that had two doors on its sides and another at the end. Amber opened the the door at the end of the hallway, paused, then rushed inside.

Harper, Jesse, and the group exchanged some confused glances, then walked in after her.

What they found inside was a fairly spaced out room. A bed with orange covers sat in one corner, a small dark oak nightstand placed next to it. A small, red lamp rested on top of the nightstand, illuminating the room with a bright red shade. A closet was built into the wall on the opposite side of where the bed and the lamp were. On the floor lay a carpet with a matching orange color to the blankets on the bed. And kneeling on the floor in front of the carpet was Amber, beginning to roll the carpet up off the floor.

"Um, what are you doing?" Petra asked as Amber revealed the floor underneath the carpet.

"Checking something," Amber replied without moving her gaze from the floor.

The space underneath the floor was dusty from years of neglect, but what caught Harper's eye was what lay in the middle.

A trapdoor.

"Why is there a trapdoor under your carpet?" Jesse asked in confusion.

Amber didn't answer him. She pressed her ear against the trapdoor, listening intently. Suddenly, a sound came from inside.

_Meow_.

Amber's eyes suddenly lit up.

"He's here!" She exclaimed excitedly, scrambling to open the trapdoor.

"Who's here?" Lukas questioned, walking over to the trapdoor to take a peek inside as Amber lifted it opened and went inside down a ladder that lead some sort of area below the girl's room.

Before anyone could say anything, they heard something rummaging around below and scarring up the ladder. A few moments of silence past before a small something poked its head through the hole in the floor.

Harper blinked as a small, black cat crawled its way out of the hole in floor and leaped onto the orange bed, meowing.

"Um…" Jesse started, staring at the cat and back at the Amber as she climbed out of the hole and closed the trapdoor, "Why was a cat down in your basement-space thing?"

"Well," Amber started, walking over to the bed to greet her feline, the black ball of fur purring as she scratched behind his ears, "When PAMA started chipping people, me, my mom and dad, and Ash here," she smiled at the black cat rumbling happily beneath her hand, "were able to hide for while before we got chipped ourselves. My mom and dad had taken turns going out to look for resources and water. But one day, PAMA had sent out some of the people that it had chipped to come find us. It had found out who we were and where we were from the memories of people that were already chipped. My mom and dad were able to hold them off for a little while, but not for long.

"Once PAMA had chipped my mom and dad, I tried to make a run for it with Ash. But the chipped ones wouldn't stop tracking me, and I couldn't run anymore. Every part of me was burning, and I can't really remember much after I collapsed on the sand. But, I could see Ash trying to save me, but the chipped ones were too strong, and when they had chipped me, I was hoping that he had gotten away and came back here," Amber gave a small, relieved breath of laughter, scooping the cat into her arms, "and he did."

Silence greeted the end of her explanation.

"How… old were you when this happened?" Petra asked uneasily, glancing at Harper, "Harper's told us that it's been a long time since Crown Mesa was normal."

Amber tapped her bottom lip thoughtfully, "Hmm… I think six years old, maybe seven."

"So you were six years old when all of that had happened?" Lukas exclaimed, eyes going wide, "How were you unable to run that far?"

Amber smiled, "I'm a fast runner." She made her way towards the dark oak closet and opened the doors, which revealed inside dust covered clothes hanging from dust covered hangers that were perched on a sturdy oak pole. On the floor of the closet lay a tall stack of neatly folded blankets that had a thick coat of dust staining its warm fabric. Amber took a good grip on half of the stack and hoisted the blankets into her arms. She glanced at the Harper, Jesse, and the group, who were just glancing around, not knowing what to do.

"Just try and make yourselves comfortable," Amber told them, beginning to head out the door, "I'm going to shake the dust off of these blankets and try to make them more appealing. Ash will keep you company, I won't be long."

Before anyone could reply, she headed out the door.

"Well," Lukas broke the silence, plopping down onto the floor with a quiet thump, "she seems nice."

"I wonder what happened to her parents." Petra murmured quietly.

"Nevermind that, well probably find them sooner or later. It's been quite hectic since everyone was freed," Ivor kneeled down beside Lukas and gestured Jesse and Petra to join them, "now come and sit down, we don't need you collapsing as well."

As Jesse and Petra tried to get into a comfortable sitting position on the floor, Harper stared at the door that Amber had exited and closed behind her. Her gaze then traveled to the last half of the stack of the remaining blankets in the closet.

"You guys try to rest for a bit," Harper told them, lifting the remaining stack of blankets into her hands, "I'm gonna go help Amber with the rest of these."

"Would you like me to help you once I've tended to Jesse?" Ivor quickly offered, getting to his feet and advancing to stand in front of Harper, his eyes shining hopefully, ignoring the snickers from the young adults on the floor behind him.

Harper smiled at his eager tone. "I appreciate the offer, Ivor, but you need to tend to Jesse, and probably Petra." She reminded him, despite Petra's sound of protest, "And you need to get some rest too. You've been tending to Lukas and me, and once you've seen to Jesse and Petra, you'll barely be able to stand on your feet."

Ivor chuckled, a bit sheepishly, "I do suppose I've been a bit busy."

Harper gave him a grin, then opened the door. She took a step out the door and, before closing it, turned her head and smiled at the group inside of Amber's room, "Won't be long," Harper promised them, before closing the door behind her and heading to the entrance of the house.

When she headed into the merged kitchen and dining room, the front door was left open, and Harper could see Amber shaking out a red blanket into the clearing in front of her, dust flying everywhere from the fabric. Next to the girl on the right porch railing sat the stack of dusty blankets that she had brought outside, but Harper noticed that it was much shorter than it had been when Amber had first brought it outside. Almost as if to answer her question, on the left porch railing sat a stack of most of the same blankets, but all of the dust had been cleaned out of their soft fabric.

"You work fast," Harper commented, making Amber jump and snap her head around at the sound of the older woman's voice.

"Didn't mean to startle you there," Harper chuckled, stepping forward to stand next to Amber, "I guess after being on the run for so long has made my movements as silent as possible."

Amber nodded understandingly, "Thanks for bringing the last of the blankets out here, I can handle the rest of them."

"Actually, I was gonna help you dust the rest of them out," She told her, setting the stack of dusty blankets she was carrying on the single remaining dusty blanket, "It'll go by faster if we're _both_ doing it."

Amber nodded silently, continuing to shake out the blanket she was currently holding while Harper grabbed one off of the pile that she had brought outside and began to shake out the dust just as Amber was doing. It surprised Harper a little that the young girl was working silently alongside her. While they shook off blankets and set them in neat piles, Amber hadn't said a word. But then again, Harper was probably not a savior in her eyes, no words of gratitude to express, no need for any complicated explanations while they were just standing here, working. Though there was one thing that Harper wanted to ask Amber about, she found it hard to find the words to ask.

Finally, while each of them were working on their last blanket, Harper turned her head to Amber.

"Amber... What happened to your parents?"

Amber flinched sharply at the question, her shoulders starting to shake.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Harper quickly assured her, not knowing how much of a touchy subject this was for the girl.

"I-It's ok," Amber set the blanket she had finished dusting off on the pile and turned back to Harper, that sad look in her eyes again, "You deserve to know."

A tense silence lingered in the air before Amber spoke again.

"Do you remember when I said that PAMA had found out about me and my parents by looking through the brains of the ones it had chipped?" Harper nodded at Amber's question.

"Well, when I had gotten chipped, I had found out that the reason why PAMA had been looking through the info in people's brains in the first place was because it was looking for information about you. It was so obsessed with trying to find you."

Harper nodded grimly, "It really wanted to know how to build the exit portal."

"I know." Member's eyes were glued to the floor, "It was working everyone to their limit to find you. It rarely wasted any food or water, and it barely let anyone rest. PAMA just kept us awake in case you ever came back. But, one day some people just started dropping like flies. They just couldn't take it anymore." Amber's voice cracked slightly as she continued, "I remember when PAMA had put me and my parents on guard duty on the outskirts of the town. I can still remember how not the sun was on our skins. It was just so sudden, one moment, they were standing beside me, strong and steady, and the next moment they... They..."

Amber let out a small sob, unable to continue, and buried her face in her hands.

Harper's eyes grew wide.

Now it made sense.

The past tenses. _Had._

The graphic choice of words. _Tortured_.

It was worse than Harper had thought.

"You mean they...?" Harper trailed off, unable to make herself speak the words.

Amber nodded, her face still buried in her hands. Another sob shook her shoulders.

Harper hesitated, before pulling Amber into a warm, comforting hug, wrapping her arms around the parentless girl. Amber didn't protest, just buried her face into Harper's chest as she began to sob harder. Harper rubbed the young girl's back comfortingly as Amber continued to let mournful cries escape from her lungs. Although her cross would never would never be answered, Harper desperately hoped that Amber's mother and father could hear them from whatever heaven they had gone to in the afterlife.

"I wish that PAMA had never found us," Amber whispered in a hoarse voice into Harper's robe, "it should have been me instead."

Harper gently put her hands and the sides of Amber's head and slowly lifted her face to let her eyes. Tear tracks stained her light,, peach-skinned face and her eyes were red from the sobs that had erupted from her throat.

"Amber, please don't wish that. I know you miss them, and I know you wish they weren't dead. But, you have to overcome it. Crown Mesa is gonna head a lot of help fixing this town up, and you might be the last youthful energy it has, " Harper wiped away a another tear that was threatening to spill down Amber's face and onto the jungle wood porch below them, "I built PAMA, I'm overwhelmed with guilt for what happened here. But, I can't let that guilt keep me from working to make this place well again. Both of us are going through a lot of difficult emotions right now, but I know that we can overcome them. Once I help Jesse, Lukas, Petra, and Ivor get home, we can work hard to fix this place right up."

A smile of reassurance curved on Harper's lips as she patted Amber's shoulder. They young girl gave a small smile in return.

"Wait," Amber's smile shifted into a shocked look, "they're leaving? When?"

"Tommorow, " Harper replied.

Amber shook her head. "I thought that they would stay longer," she said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"they'll probably visit sometimes, " Harper assured her, ignoring the chill that went up her spine.

_If they make it out alive._

* * *

The sun had already begun to set when Harper and Amber had finished with the blankets and headed back inside. When they stepped inside the bedroom, Jesse was already asleep on the floor with his back leaning against the wall his once scratch covered face completely healed. Petra and Lukas lay on his side's next to him, snoozing quietly. Ivor was the only one who was awake, sitting next to the three sleeping heroes, though his eye lids were drooping slightly. He perked up when Harper and Amber quietly stepped inside.

"I thought I told you to get some rest, too," she scolded him quietly, though there was a playful hint to her tone.

"I wanted to make sure these three fell asleep first," He whispered, glancing at the slumped forms of the exhausted young adults beside him, "now that they have, I'll go to sleep soon, as well."

"Good," She smiled at him, glancing beside her, "Amber-"

But the dark blonde haired girl had already collapsed on top of her bed, pulling the covers over herself and clinging to them as though she would never let go of them again. Harper could already head her snoring quietly from underneath the orange blanket. Ash leaped onto the blankets and curled around the young girl, a puff rumbling in its throat.

"Well," Ivor blinked at Amber's hasty retreat to her bed, "that was fast."

Harper chuckled quietly, paying the stack of blankets she had been carrying on the carpet . "She's as exhausted as any of us," Harper told him, "PAMA worked them real hard."

Harper could feel a grimace try to sleep it's way into her face, but she forced it back.

_They died._

_Most of them died._

_It's all my fault._

_How many people had to suffer because of me?_

Ivor must have noticed it while gently covering Jesse, Petra, and Lukas beside him with one of the blankets, because he frowned slightly and lightly patted the space beside him, gesturing her to sit next to him.

Harper smiled gratefully and cautiously sat down beside him, carefully of waking any the ones who were resting in the room with them. Ivor grabbed a blanket from the pile and put it around Harper's shoulders. Harper glanced at him.

"Don't you want one?" Harper asked him. Ivor hesitated, then shook his head.

"I think I'll live."

Harper smirked at him mischieviously, an idea entering her mind. Harper, before Ivor realised what she was doing, drew one side of the blanket around his shoulder. Lightly gripping his shoulder with the hand she was using to hold the corner of the blanket, she pulled him closer to her, to the point that their noses were almost touching. Harper tried to not outright laugh at Ivor's flustered expression.

"Is this more appealing to you?" Harper purred flirtatiously, lowering her eyelids at the bearded man beside her. She chuckled quietly when he tried to stammer out an answer.

"W-Well, I-I suppose this is- It's v-very-"

Harper shushed him by placing a finger on his lips, causing him to abruptly stop the sputtering pouring out of his mouth. He blinked a few times at the dark-skinned woman. She smirked at him.

"I'm guessing you like it?" Harper teased, removing her finger from his mouth.

"I-I g-guess so," He admitted, looking away, blushing as red as the brightest redstone, drawing the blanket around himself.

Harper smiled at him before putting her hands on the sides of his face, turning his head so that he looked her in the eye. Ivor blinked at her in surprise. Harper leaned in and pressed her lips slowly, softly against his cheek. When she leaned back and removed her hands from his face, Ivor stared at her with wide eyes, his hand slowly reaching up to touch his cheek. Harper smiled at him, a bit sheepishly, and rested her head on his shoulder, snuggling up to his side.

"Sleep tight, Ivor," She whispered quietly to him and began to drift away, leaving the oh so flustered brewer with his thoughts, knowing that sleep would come to engulf her in a peaceful quiet soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N~ Good LORD.
> 
> This chapter was so tearjerking, but so frustrating to write.
> 
> See you in the next chapter!


	11. Midnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

Harper couldn't sleep.

Her eyes were closed, breathing steadily as her stomach tucked in as she inhaled and heaved out as she exhaled, trying to look as peaceful as possible. Most people would be fooled by her body language and assumed that she indeed was asleep. But, inside her mind, whirled so many thoughts, so many things that she could be doing now instead of sleeping, doing nothing usef- _productive_.

Harper had this problem before, back before Jesse, Ivor, Petra, and Lukas came along and before everyone was unchipped. When she tried to get at least a second of sleep at any point when PAMA was still active, her mind would run wild, scolding herself about the things that she should and could be doing instead of lying in her bed. But she had always convinced herself to get at least a few hours of sleep every day. Harper had half-joked half-taunted herself that she would collapse from exhaustion if she didn't get chipped by PAMA first.

When Harper had tried to sleep along with Jesse, Petra, Lukas, and Ivor, she thought that falling asleep would be easier now that her anxiety levels wouldn't be through the roof now that PAMA was shut down.

Apparently, it wasn't going to be that easy.

Harper opened her eyes, despite her aching limbs protests. The room was still dark, the only dim light in the room coming from the half moon outside, which still didn't provide more than a little light to the room. Jesse, Petra, and Lukas were huddled together against the wall underneath the window, quietly snoring away. Amber, one of the victims in Crown Mesa who had generously offered them the hospitality they were currently resting in, was lying on her bed, her body rising and falling underneath the orange covers that matched the ribbon that held her ponytail in place. Her black cat, Ash, was curled on top of the orange blanket, as asleep as any of the others in the room. Ivor was sat beside Harper, his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around them. Harper noticed that he was rather close to Harper; they were practically snuggled against each other. It made Harper's face turn a bit pink, but she knew she couldn't move away from him or else she would wake him up. And, she had to admit, she did kind of like it.

Harper glanced around the room, and her eyes came to a stop at the door. She noticed that it was slightly cracked, but just enough to catch a glimpse of what was past it. She could see the moons light reflecting off of the iron of a pickaxe that was perched beside two others at the door. Her heart clenched a bit as she realized who the two others must have belonged to.

Harper remembered with a silent, sad sigh as she remembered what Amber had told her about what had happened to the young girl's parents and most of Crown Mesa's population. Most of the town's people had been pushed to the brink of exhaustion while PAMA commanded them to search for Harper. When Amber had explained to her what had happened, Harper understood then why the townspeople had been so reluctant to trust her again and why they were so doubtful about letting her live there. Harper didn't defy any of their assumptions about her, she had just about the same negative thoughts against herself as they did.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Harper's mind. She hesitated, glancing at Ivor beside her.

She felt as though she needed to, despite her body's desire for sleep practically screaming at her not to do this.

But, it was probably the only way her relationship with the town was going to get any better.

As quietly as she could possibly be, Harper gently and slowly stood up from where she was leaning against Ivor, very cautious of not waking him up. As she finally stood up on her feet, Harper swore to herself she saw Ivor stir and held her breath. Harper stared at him for a few moments longer, making sure he was truly asleep, before walking to the door, creaking it open, and heading out of the room, the door silently closing behind her.

She pursued down the hallway and walked into the main area of the house, the mixed kitchen and dining room, and stood next to the door. Harper stared down at the three picaxes that rested against the wall next to the door. She wondered if Amber would mind if she borrowed one of them. Even though she was the one who created PAMA and she was providing her home specifically for Jesse and the others, Amber didn't blame Harper for PAMA, and allowed her to rest in her house as well. She was probably the only real friend that Harper was going to have in Crown Mesa for a while.

But, not for much longer, she thought to herself, grabbing one of the iron tools propped against the wall and heaving it over her shoulder.

The idea that was simply bubbling in her mind a few minutes earlier was now boiling over like an overheated pot of water. Harper could start working early, earlier than anyone in the town. It was a bit after midnight, and Harper knew that the townspeople would want to sleep long after dawn, and she didn't want to keep them from that. Harper couldn't work on the houses, waking people up in the middle of the night would be the last thing she wanted to do, and she kind of wanted it to surprise them in the morning. But, she could work on getting PAMA's screen removed, the Platform, the inside of PAMA, there was so much that she could work one from midnight until morning. Harper was sure that the villagers would be pleased that so much work had already gotten done, especially on the parts that they were the least eager to keep a part of the town. It might weigh Harper down until she collapsed, but she guessed it was fair, and they would be so happy.

Now, completely sure of herself and what she planned to do, Harper reached for the doornob, turned it, end-to-end

"Harper? What are you doing?"

Harper froze as she began to open the door at the questioning voice.

She turned around to find Ivor standing behind her, just a few feet away. to Harper's surprise, he didn't look as though he had been woken up. His eyes were wide awake and alert but there were slightly dark rings underneath his eyes. Ivor actually looked as though he hadn't slept at all, really.

Harper riddled with the picaxes she had in her hands as she tried to come up with an excuse.

"Well, um, I couldn't really sleep, so I just thought that I could go out on a walk," Harper tried to convince him, struggling to keep her voice casually, but was struggling badly.

Ivor raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Why would you need a picaxes out on a walk?" He asked, glancing down at the tool in her gloved hands.

"Well- uh..." Harper trailed off and signed in defeat, holding one hand up in surrender while the other still gripped the picaxe, "Alright, you got me. I'm... I'm going to start working on the town early."

"Right now? Harper, it's a few minutes after midnight, you can't start working at this hour! And just look at yourself," Ivor added, gesturing to her legs that were shaking slightly, "You look as though you're going to fall in on yourself. You're exhausted! You need to get some sleep. "

"But I have to do this!" Harper told him stubbornly, before lowering her eyes to the ground as she softened her voice, "besides, it's probably the only way I can get Crown Mesa to at least accept my help."

Harper noticed out of the corner of her eye how his eyes darkened slightly, a bit of anger sparking in his eyes that were the color of the midnight sky outside.

"You don't have to do anything," Ivor said firmly, stepping forward to stand beside her, "you've done enough. You helped free them."

"Barely," Harper muttered quietly under her breath, self-loathing crawling into her tone. If Ivor had heard, he gave no sign of it as he lead her back down the hallway and quietly into Amber's room.

Fortunately, Harper didn't seem to wake any of the other young heroes of Amber. They were still silent as a mouse from when she had left the room. Though, Ash did stir a bit as Ivor and Harper why crept back into the room, creaking one eyelid open slightly to stare at them for a moment with one of his hazel eyes, before closing it again and settled deeper into the blanket he was on.

Ivor silently sat down on the space he was sleeping on before, gesturing Harper to sit down with him. Harper gave him a weak, but grateful, smile as she settled down beside him. Even though Harper was still frustrated about how Ivor stopped her from starting on the town early, she knew that he was doing it because he cared. And, Harper couldn't keep it from herself anymore, she cared about him, too.

Absentmindedly, Harper wordlessly leaned against Ivor's side, some of her exhaustion vanishing from his warmth. Ivor glanced at her, blinking a few times in surprise, his cheeks lightly turning pink. Harper met his reaction with a sheepish smile, moving even closer to him. She expected him to start stuttering or to flush even darker, but to her surprise, and utter delight, he slowly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close as she snuggled into him. The two fell into a half-comfortable half-awkward silence as they tried to let sleep come over them. The silence was broken when Ivor spoke up quietly.

"It's okay. I haven't been sleeping well, either."

Harper turned her head towards him, eyebrows raised in surprise, "But, you looked completely asleep when I went out of the room."

"Just because it looks like I'm sleeping doesn't mean that I actually am." Ivor told her, "And you seemed pretty passed out, too."

Harper smiled at him. "I guess it just looked like I was asleep, huh?" She teased him quietly.

Ivor chuckled softly, "I suppose so," He admitted sheepishly, "but, you have a very good reason to be resting."

"So do you."

"Why do I need to be?"

"Because you spent the entire afternoon caring to their wounds," Harper gestured over to the huddled young heroes next to them, "it must have taken a lot out of you. You look just as exhausted as I do."

"I don't need it," Ivor huffed quietly, "everyone else has done more things than I have today."

Harper just smiled, a bit sympathetically, and snuggled deeper into him. "You don't give yourself enough credit," she whispered softly to him.

She felt his arm around her tighten slightly. "Neither do you," Ivor murmured back to her, his fingers beginning to gently slip underneath Harper's hood and through her white locks. Harper didn't reply, not knowing what to say, just buried her face into his shoulder as Ivor continued to slowly run his fingers through her hair. His touch was such a peaceful lullaby that Harper found herself being embraced by sleep rather quickly that night.

* * *

Harper's eyelids opened slowly as she felt the morning sun shine through the windows and into the room. The rays of light struck Harper's face gently, making her skin warm, thankfully not as hot as it would make someone's skin in the middle of the day. Harper's memory might have gotten a bit slow a few times after being on her own for so long, but she had never forgotten the torturous heat of the desert and mesa.

Harper (wanting to get herself up and running, because _whew_ , that was the best sleep she'd had in _ages_ ) shut her eyes and stretched her legs, awakening them from such a long night being tucked up against her chest. After being satisfied with her legs statue at that moment, Harper then attempted to let her arms stretch out in front of her.

But, at that moment, she realized two things.

One, her arms wouldn't budge.

And two, that certain problem was because something was pressing her arms against her sides.

Harper opened her eyes again and turned her gaze to each of her arms, back and forth.

As soon as she turned her attention to the something that was pinning her arms against herself, Harper felt her face heat up, rather rapidly.

And she was quite certain that it wasn't because of the sun outside this time.

What Harper found before her was Ivor's right arm wrapped tightly around her, his hand resting on Harper's right arm and gripping the fabric of her yellowish-brownish sleeve. His head was also leaning against Harper's, a look of deep slumber on his pale, bearded face. One of his legs were brought up to his chest, Ivor's left arm laying on it, and his other leg spread out in front of him, lifting his robe up a bit.

Harper, trying to calm the cherry red color that was stuck on her cheeks, tried to search her memories of last night to figure out why they were in this position together.

She blinked.

Last night.

Harper remembered the trouble she had sleeping, trying to get started on Crown Mesa early, Ivor dragging her back to Amber's room..

And the small talk she had with him before going to sleep.

_You don't give yourself enough credit._

_Neither do you._

Harper felt a smile curving the corners of her mouth upwards.

No wonder she had such a good rest.

Harper turned her head to the potions master beside her, gently shifting herself so that her front was facing him as well, his arm still drawn around her. She raised one hand and poked a finger out, lightly tapping his nose.

"Wake up, sleepy head," Harper whispered quietly and playfully.

Ivor's eyelids cracked open slightly, only revealing a fraction of his dark blue eyes. He blinked slowly a few times, his left hand reaching up to run his eyes tiredly. After a few moments, his eyes began to focus, though only the lower half of his midnight orbs were shown, his eyelids covering the top halves.

After a few seconds, Ivor blinked a few time, rather quickly this time, his eyes now completely open. He tilted his head to the side, presumably registering what was happening at the moment.

As soon as Ivor set eyes on his arm wrapped around Harper, his face flushed so dark that he could have been mistaken as a tomato. He hastily pulled his arm away, sputtered apologies beginning to spill out of his mouth.

"I-I'm sorry! I d-don't know what c-came over me! I-I-"

Harper placed a hand on his shoulder, cutting him off.

Ivor blinked at her, surprise in his eyes, his face still the color of a red pepper. Harper chuckled quietly.

"Its alright," She assured him quietly, "I liked it."

His eyes widened a bit, "R-Really?"

Harper shot him a warm smile, "Really."

The two stared at each other for a moment longer, before Harper got up on her feet, raising her arms above her head and stretching them with a satisfied grunt.

"Well, now that we're awake, do you want to find some food for the kiddos?" She asked him, reaching a hand out to him with a smile on her face.

Ivor stared at her, his face not nearly as red as it had been a minute ago, but was still fairly pink. Then after letting a small laugh out of his lungs, he took her hand and allowed her to hoist him up onto his feet.

"I'd be delighted to."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N~ Just a little fluffy filler chapter before Harper and the gang to back to the Portal Network. :)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N ~ TO BE CONTINUED!
> 
> Sorry that this had to cut off so shortly, I just wanted to split the episode between a few chapters without mking them too long.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are well appreciated! :)


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